By the River's Flow
by Neska Rau
Summary: (Set some time after the conclusion of the series, to which I make no claims of ownership) A young woman falls from one world to another, landing in a river of light. After a strange conversation with a fish, she meets an unusual man on the riverbank. What will become of her when she leaves the river behind?
1. Chapter 1: Falling

The day had begun like any other.

She got up, took a shower, and got dressed. She read a book while eating breakfast. She walked down to the bus stop and went to work. She performed her work without any noticeable mistakes. She continued reading on her breaks and lunch. A bit of last-minute work kept her past her usual time, causing her to miss the last bus home. The night was pleasant and the walk would only take her an hour, which she knew from all the other times she had missed the bus.

The night would end in the most unusual manner.

The streets were familiar to her, only requiring the occasional glance to ensure she didn't miss her turns or her footing. She actually liked walking home after dark, despite the worries her friends and family held for her safety. They thought she was being reckless to walk so far from the business district, through the bar and nightclub area, to reach her apartment. But there was hardly anyone else out this late and the young woman was confident in her martial arts training. The city was cool and quiet enough to think, so she let her thoughts wander as she walked.

Suddenly, she stumbled. She didn't remember there being any uneven pavement there, so she turned to look at what might have tripped her up. To her surprise, there wasn't anything unusual on the ground. Not even a stick or stone to roll underfoot. Confused, she turned and continued on her way. She stumbled again a block later, then half a block, three times in one block, then every few steps. Each time there was no explanation for it. Frustrated, she determined to watch every step she took to keep from stumbling again.

She was able to go an entire block without stumbling while watching her feet and began to relax. Maybe her ankles had just been reacting to something. She lost her balance as the ground seemed to open up before her. Startled, she took a step back and turned to go another way. The path behind her appeared to have fallen away. She could see nothing around her except the single square of concrete beneath her feet. It was crumbling at the edges, the pieces falling into the darkness.

_Bloody hell?! _Panic overcame her at what she was seeing, her thoughts racing. _What's happening?! This can't be real! Oh no . . . I'm hallucinating! I'm losing my mind!_

Every direction she turned there was nothing but darkness, no sign of the rest of the world, and her little island of concrete was shrinking rapidly. Soon she would have nothing left to stand on. Taking a deep breath to try to calm her nerves and telling herself that this couldn't be happening, she jumped in the direction the rest of the sidewalk should have been. When she fell into the darkness and saw her little piece of concrete fly past her she screamed. Louder and longer than she had ever screamed in her life, longer than she thought she could, she screamed until she knew no more.

The mushishi had finished setting up his simple camp and started cooking dinner over the fire. The meal wasn't very satisfying. He always seemed to be running out of supplies and had to conserve what little he had until he reached the next village. After cleaning up he leaned against a tree and lit one of his mushi-repelling cigarettes and closed his eyes. Then he closed the second eyelid that most humans forgot that they possessed.

The koumyoku, the river of light, the flow of life itself, stretched out behind him. Ginko was always careful to keep his back to it, unless he had a reason to look. It was beautiful but dangerous, and he had already lost one eye to mysterious circumstances. Not to mention his abnormal hair color: pure white. He could not remember what might have happened to cause his unusual appearance; he could not even remember anything before seeing the moon in the darkness sometime before he left the forest and saw the sun. He knew nothing except the name Ginko, Silver Child, which could have been a reference to how he looked.

He chuckled to himself. It wasn't often that he thought about the past, since there wasn't much to remember. Until he was old enough to go out on his own, he'd traveled with various people who always ended up passing him off to someone else. It had only really felt like his life started when he had first packed his own mushishi traveling case and set out into the world. That had only been a little over ten years ago.

His musings were interrupted when he heard a faint scream.

He turned to face the direction the sound had come from. The koumyoku was directly in front of him. The scream seemed to be coming from somewhere above it, somewhere far upstream from where he was. It sounded like a woman's voice, but it was so far away he couldn't be entirely certain. The scream lasted for what seemed like several minutes, until it just cut off. Taking a puff of his cigarette, he wondered what the scream might mean.


	2. Chapter 2: Sinking

The next thing the young woman was aware of was an impact.

It wasn't a hard impact, like landing on the ground would have been, but it wasn't an entirely soft landing either. The combination of resistance and give was similar to water, but the substance really didn't feel like water at all. She felt like it ought to be wet, and at first it seemed to be, but soon felt like nothing more like light on her skin. Yet it wasn't anywhere near as warm as sunlight, lamplight, or even candlelight. Light without warmth that flowed like water: it was so pleasant that she didn't mind that she seemed to be sinking. She wasn't drowning, and this hallucination was far more pleasant than the previous one had been.

With her eyes closed against the light, she sunk slowly and unconcernedly through the strange substance. If this was madness, she could count herself lucky. If this was death, she could feel luckier still. The frustratingly mundane world she knew, a world she had never felt at home in, had fallen away. All her cares and worries seemed to be dissolving in the flowing light, leaving her pleasantly empty. She could fade away to nothing in this river, and never have to bother with the world again.

_Don't give in._

The words surprised her, since they felt like a thought that wasn't hers. She opened her eyes, slowly. The flowing substance was golden in color. There was something large and silver coming towards her. It was very large and seemed to be swimming like a fish. As it came closer, she thought that it looked something like a catfish. But it was the size of a small whale. The thought crossed her mind that she ought to be afraid of something so large and strange coming towards her, but she did not seem to be capable of feeling fear at the moment.

_You are so young, hardly started on your life . . . it is too soon for you to fade away._

The thoughts that weren't hers seemed to be coming from the silver catfish. It continued to swim towards her, coming underneath, until it caught her on its broad head.

_But I never belonged in the world . . . everything I did felt wrong, all I managed to do was survive . . . I'm tired of surviving and this river is so nice . . ._ It ought to have been strange, riding on a giant fish's head and talking to it in thoughts, but she couldn't be bothered to care.

_Oh?_ The fish laughed, and she thought it sounded like a woman. _If you didn't belong in the world, then where do you think you belong?_

_ I don't . . . I don't think I belong anywhere. There's no way to go to other worlds, and even if there was I'd be even more out of place . . . I ought to just fade away and be done with it._

_ How can you know that you wouldn't belong if you don't even try?_ The fish spoke in a maternal tone of voice as it continued to swim upwards.

_But there's no way to try . . . the only way out of the world is death . . ._

_ Then do you think you have died?_ The fish chuckled again.

_Well, probably . . . unless I've just gone insane, which I suppose is one other way out . . ._

_ So, there are at least two ways out that you knew of and you seem to have stumbled upon a third._

_ Huh?_ The mention of stumbling caused her to remember something about her last walk home, and the fall through darkness that followed . . .

_I can't speak for your sanity, but you were not dead when you fell in the koumyoku. Unless madness opened the door, something else caused your arrival in this world._

_ This world? And what is koumyoku?_

_ The koumyoku, or light flow, is the river of kouki, or light wine, which is the stuff of life itself. It is the light that is flowing around us. I can tell just from the feel of you that you were not like the humans I knew when I still walked the world._

_ Were?_ The use of past tense made her nervous for some reason. _What do you mean?_

_ I do not know how long you have been submerged in kouki, but it has been long enough to dissolve your humanity. Luckily, you have not yet lost your sense of self. You still have your human shape. Had you lost that, I could not have saved you._

_ But why bother? You don't know me, and I don't belong here. Why not let me disappear?_

_ Because then you would never have the chance to change your mind and decide to live._

She thought about what the fish had said. She couldn't remember ever really wanting to live. There were times when life was pleasant, like her quiet walks and enjoying a good book with a cup of tea, but the unpleasant times vastly outnumbered them. Why would life in this world be any different?

_You were lonely, weren't you?_ The fish interrupted her thoughts, almost as if she had read the young woman's thoughts. _It's hard to feel part of the world when there is no one to anchor you to it._

The fish was right. She had always felt a burden on her family and distanced herself from them. Her friends were all more successful than she was and she tried not to make them feel like she was taking advantage of that. She hadn't even gotten new cats when her old ones died, since it had been so painful to lose them. For the last several years, she had been almost entirely alone.

_When I was human, I had no choice but to travel alone. I even had to leave my child at home with his father._ There was a sense of profound loss in the fish's tone. _I visited them as often as I could, but it only made it harder to leave them. The last time I came home, they had disappeared. I went to search for them in the forest where they had gone missing, but I never found them. There were mushi, strange creatures, in the forest that had consumed them and turned them into something other than human. I believed that there was nothing left in the world for me, refusing to let myself be needed even by the orphan child I found in the woods. I sent him on his way as soon as he was fit and embraced the same fate as my family. The child came back looking for me, but it was too late. Being with me at the end caused him to lose his memory, an eye, and forever marked him with this silver light. Had I let myself be needed by that child, I might have left the forest and started a new life._

_ That was when you were human. You said I wasn't human anymore, so that shouldn't apply to me._

_ Just because you are not human does not mean that someone might not need you. I cannot return to the world of humans in this form, but you can._

_ You seem very determined to have me live in this world._ The young woman smiled wryly. Her sense of humor seemed to be coming back to her.

_If you cannot find a reason to continue to exist or someone to need you, you can always return to the koumyoku to fade away. It flows throughout the world._

_ Fine._ The young woman sighed, realizing there was no way to win against this fish. _So, are you going to tell me your name so I can at least know who to blame if this fails?_

_ I haven't needed a name in this form . . . but I was called Nui when I was human._

_ Well, Nui, you can call me Nesu. Even if this ends up working out, I may come back to yell at you when I get annoyed._

Nui the silver catfish laughed again as they finally broke the surface of the kouki.

_Fine by me. I haven't been able to really talk to anyone in a very long time._ Nui began to sink back below the surface. _You should be able to swim to the shore from here, and from there make your way up into the world._

_ Thanks._ Nesu began to swim towards the black shore.

_ By the way, if you meet a young man with white hair and one bright green eye you should not mention my name or this encounter._

_ Why?_

_ Some things are best left forgotten, lest they cause pain._ With that, Nui swam swiftly away.

_Well, if I'm not crazy, I seem to have fallen into a very strange world._ Nesu thought to herself.


	3. Chapter 3: Swimming

The current of the koumyoku was strong, pushing her further and further downstream. Nesu wasn't sure how far she should let herself drift, but there wasn't much she could do about it. She swam across the current, heading for the shore. Her progress ended up at an acute angle: several yards downstream for each foot across. Luckily, she didn't seem to get tired anymore: whatever she had become did not require sleep.

Ginko had been more disturbed by the sound of the scream he had heard by the koumyoku than he would like to admit. He took to visiting the river of light more often than before, listening for the scream and looking for any changes in the flow. Days went by without any unusual sights or sounds. He began to think that he might have imagined it, except that the strange things he saw and heard were in variably real.

The bank never seemed to get any closer, but Nesu never gave up. She was sure that if she did, Nui would come back to tell her off and drive her back to the surface. She laughed at the thought of being mothered by a giant catfish.

This time he was almost sure he had imagined it. Sitting by on the bank of the koumyoku, staring upriver, he heard a laugh. A woman's voice laughing. It wasn't far above like the scream had been and seemed much closer. But it was such a strange thing to hear in that place he was hesitant to admit that it was real.

She finally seemed to be closer to the shore, though it was hard to tell without any landscape to judge by. There at least seemed to be less kouki between her and the darkness. Glancing along the bank downriver, wondering where she might come ashore, she thought she saw something white at the edge of the koumyoku.

He was finally convinced that both the scream and the laugh were entirely real. Days after the laugh, he spotted something dark in the golden flow. It was still too far away to tell what it was, but it was such a dramatic difference compared to the golden kouki and varicolored mushi that he was certain there was something there.

There was definitely something on the shore. She was closer to it now, though not close enough to make out details. A boulder seemed like it would be out of place in this strange place, though at least that would give her something to gauge distance by. She wondered if she would manage to come to shore anywhere near it.

The dark thing in the koumyoku was getting closer to the bank. Ginko was excited. In his years as a mushishi he hadn't heard of anyone seeing such a thing. It might be a new breed of mushi that had just emerged. Though why a mushi would laugh with a woman's voice was a question that troubled him.

She was close enough now to guess at the white thing on the shore. It looked very much like a crouching figure, like there was a man watching the river. She wondered if it really was a man and what he might be doing in this place. Was he like her?

Ginko was shocked. The dark thing was definitely swimming, not just drifting, with the same pace and rhythm as a human would when swimming against a strong current. But there couldn't be a human in the koumyoku. Even if a human had fallen in, they wouldn't stay human: they would surely either dissolve or become a mushi. Could a human have maintained their form when they changed, at least enough to swim like that?

Nesu got the distinct feeling that someone was watching her. It could only be the figure on the shore, which at least confirmed that it wasn't a boulder. She was determined to find out what he was doing there and why he was staring at her.

He could make out more of the thing in the koumyoku. The dark seemed to be part of something larger, pushed to the side by the current while the figure kept swimming to shore. It was definitely a human figure, and the long dark hair might mean it was a woman. If it was a woman, that would explain the voice he had heard.

She was finally close enough to drag herself to shore. She was some still some yards from the figure in white, but as whoever it was seemed to have seen her she sat and waited. It was definitely a man. He wore a white shirt and brown slacks. His hair was pure white and she could see one bright green eye. Remembering her conversation with Nui, she wondered if the fish had expected this to happen.

If it was possible for Ginko to be ecstatic, he would be feeling that way now. The dark thing he had seen had come ashore. It was not only human in form, but a woman like the voice had indicated. Her long hair was tangled from the current and seemed to be dark blue. Her eyes were a paler shade but blue as well. Her clothes were tattered, clearly revealing more skin than they were meant to. Her skin itself was extremely pale and seemed to glow in the light of the koumyoku.


	4. Chapter 4: Meeting

"Hey. Do you have any idea where this place is?" Nesu asked politely, hoping the man would stop staring and answer. It's not like she'd ever been much to look at.

"You can speak? That makes things simpler, I guess." Ginko smiled his usual lopsided smirk. "This place is the koumyoku, the light flow."

"Gee, I wonder how they came up with that name?" She asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes at the glowing river.

"At least it's descriptive." He tried to hide his grin by taking a pull from his cigarette. _Okay, what she is, she was definitely human. But what a strange accent! Where could she be from?_

"Still doesn't answer the question of where this is. I have no idea how long I've been down here or what I'll find when I leave."

"Well, this isn't a place in the proper sense of the word so where doesn't really apply. As for what you find when you leave, I can only say for certain what you'd find if you came with me."

"And that would be?" She stood and approached him, trying to keep her tattered clothes covering the important bits. She hadn't noticed them becoming damaged.

"A forested mountain, not far from the sea. I was on my way to visit a friend who lives by the shore." He grinned at her. "Did I hear you laugh awhile back?"

"Oh, that." She smiled. "I was remembering a fish that couldn't mind its own business."

"Fish? In the koumyoku?" He was extremely curious.

"Are there normally fish there?" She evaded the question.

"Well, I haven't heard of any . . . "

"Then it might not have been a fish at all." She looked passed him, and then out into the dark. "So, how do I get out of here?"

"Hm. If you were human I'd suggest opening your eyes, since humans usually find the koumyoku by closing their second eyelids. For an ordinary mushi, it isn't an issue: they can find their way instinctively."

"So how about for someone who was recently human and seems to have changed into something else?" She raised an eyebrow at the man.

"Ah, I thought you must have been previously human." He nodded as if making a mental note. "Well, I've never met anyone here who couldn't find their way out so I'm not sure what you should do. I could say 'follow me' but all I have to do is open my eyes to leave."

"Guess, then." She rolled her eyes again.

"I've got one idea." He grinned as he offered her his hand.

She took it cautiously, not entirely sure what would happen. His hand felt perfectly normal, like any other human hand, and she relaxed. To him, her hand caused a tingling sensation in his skin. It wasn't unpleasant, but was definitely inhuman.

"Here goes nothing." He took another puff of his cigarette and closed his eyes.

As he opened his second eyelid she felt a very strange sensation. The light from the koumyoku faded and the darkness seemed to blur. When he opened his eyes normally, she found herself standing next to him in a forest. Between the trees, in the distance, she could see the sparkle of sunset on the ocean waves.

"That . . . was weird." She stated as she exhaled a breath she hadn't needed and hadn't realized she was holding.

"Welcome back to the world." He grinned at her. "Do you have a name?"

"Nesu. You?"

"Ginko."

"Another descriptive name, if it's Japanese."

"Of course it is, we're in Japan aren't we?"

She blinked several times, and then sat down hard on the ground.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Definitely not." She pulled up her knees and buried her head. "I wasn't in Japan when I fell . . . "

"The koumyoku must have carried you far, then." He sat down next to her. _Fell? That might explain the scream, but how could I have heard it if she wasn't even in the country when it happened?_

"You're not speaking English are you? You're speaking Japanese?" _I can't speak Japanese! Not fluently anyway . . . did Nui think in Japanese? Could I have picked it up from her?_

"I think I've heard a few words in English, but we're speaking Japanese right now." _What an odd question for her to ask . . ._

She groaned. "I think I liked things better when I thought I was dead or insane. This doesn't make any sense."

"If everything made sense, I'd probably be out of a job." He grinned clearly trying to cheer her up.

She looked up, an eyebrow raised.

"I'm a mushishi," he explained, "I work with things normal people can't see, hear, or feel on a daily basis. I study the mushi and help people deal with them when necessary."

"What exactly is a mushi? Doesn't the word usually mean bug?"

"Ah, the kanji is different when talking about insects. A square above a horizontal line, the two connected by a short vertical line." He quickly sketched the symbol in the dirt. "For the creatures I deal with, the kanji is a trio of these with one above two others." He added two more symbols below the first but next to each other. "This kanji is older than the simpler one, and refers to an order of organism far older than ordinary insects."

"Okay, so they aren't bugs. What are they?"

"A form of life close to the source of life itself." He held out a hand where she could see it. "Say that my four fingers represent animal life and the thumb plant life. Humans would be here," he touched the tip of his middle finger, "the point furthest from the heart. As you move down the fingers to the palm, the animals and plants get less complex." He traced the path as he spoke. "Down at the wrist, the line between animal and plant blurs and you find fungi. Further, near the elbow, you'd find bacteria. Up at the shoulder things are hard to identify. But here," his hand rested near his heart, "is where you find the mushi. So ancient and so close to the essence of life that most of them don't even have material forms."

"Interesting. So where do I fit in?"

Ginko was at a loss for a moment. "For as far back as there exist records of mushi, there have been incidents where humans have become mushi. Usually it is through what we call the mushi banquet. In a forest filled with mushi, the mushi will choose a human. They draw this human deep into the forest where the mushi then take on a human-like form. They then offer the human a sake cup filled to the brim with kouki, the light wine, the distilled essence of life. When the human drinks, they shed their humanity and become a mushi that retains their shape, memories, and often their personality. There are other circumstances where a human can take on the characteristics of a mushi, but I don't recall ever hearing about someone falling into the koumyoku and surviving to become a mushi like you."

"So I'm a freak then?" Her sudden laugh startled him. "I think I can live with that, for now anyway."

"You are a very strange person." Ginko grinned at her.

_I might just end up liking this world after all, you meddling catfish._ Nesu thought to herself.


	5. Chapter 5: Hiking

Ginko prepared his evening meal while Nesu watched the sunset through the trees. Though there wasn't much, he politely offered to share with her. She declined, not feeling at all hungry.

"Do you know if people in my situation typically get hungry or thirsty?" she asked as he was cleaning up.

"Well, I know that they can definitely drink." He paused while he put away the dishes in his case. "I've seen one drink kouki from a sake cup decades after her initial change so that her grandson would be able to see her and I've administered medicine to a woman who had been significantly affected by mushi, though she hadn't actually changed into one. I'd have to do some research to see about the need to eat. Plenty of mushi do eat, of course."

"Both of your examples were women. Do men not get turned into mushi?"

"I haven't met any who have." He admitted as he laid out his bedroll and sat down. "Though I think I recall a few instances in records of past cases."

"Hm."

"If you don't mind my asking," he lit up one of his cigarettes, "how did you end up in the koumyoku? You mentioned a fall?"

"I'm not entirely sure." She scratched her head out of habit while she though, she didn't actually have an itch. "I was walking home from work. It was late, but there was light from businesses and streetlamps. I started tripping over nothing and had to watch my feet. Then suddenly I was surrounded by darkness, as if the world, other than the pavement I was standing on, had disappeared. The pavement seemed to be crumbling away, so I took a risk on the chance it was all a hallucination and jumped. I didn't land on the sidewalk, but just kept falling through the darkness until I passed out. I woke up when I hit the koumyoku, thought I was hallucinating again and drifted off for a while. Then I came to my senses and started swimming for the shore."

" . . . I can honestly say I've never heard of anything like that happening before."

"Not at all?"

"Well, there's the tokoyami: a mushi of complete darkness." He leaned back. "Sometimes when people walk alone in the dark, usually in a forest, the light of the moon and stars will disappear. If the tokoyami catches them, they have to take care to remember who they are or they will forget their names. Then they have to pick a new name and cling to it or they will disappear entirely. But since no one who has completely disappeared has ever come back, there's no way of knowing if anything like what you described happened to them."

"I don't think it was a tokoyami." She looked thoughtful. "I didn't forget anything, or feel like I was forgetting anything, which sounds like the preliminary stages. Must have been something else."

They talked for a little longer, but soon enough Ginko was yawning. Nesu didn't feel the least bit tired, so after he went to bed she went for a walk. Careful to stay in sight of the camp, she wandered around the forest. There were many mushi on the mountain, away from Ginko's repelling cigarettes. They came in all sorts of strange shapes and bright colors, going about their business without paying any heed to her. Many of them floated easily through the air. As an experiment she pushed lightly off the ground. She rose up quickly, but fell slowly. Grinning, she pushed off much harder and drifted through the trees before landing easily.

Near dawn she returned to camp. Ginko hadn't woken up yet, so she decided to do him a favor and get breakfast started. Rummaging in his case she found the dishes and the supplies, and then got the fire started again. Seeing how little there was, she quickly gathered some nuts and berries she recognized as edible. Chopping the nuts, she added them to a measure of rice and set it to boil over the fire. Ginko woke as she was transferring the food to a bowl and adding the berries.

"Hey, you cooked?" He looked surprised as he sat up and flattened his ruffled hair.

"Yeah, I hope it's alright." She handed him the bowl and his chopsticks. "I'm not used to cooking without a kitchen and there wasn't much to work with."

"It's different from what I'm used to . . . " he paused as he ate.

"Sorry. Japanese breakfasts are usually savory, right? The berries were a mistake."

"No, it's good." He grinned as he kept eating. "Just different."

After cleaning the dishes and packing everything up, they struck camp and headed off through the forest. Ginko was leading the way, having been through these mountains many times before. While they walked, she asked him about the mushi she had seen in the night. They were all the ordinary sort that supported the life of the forest. When they came to a clear space, she pushed off and drifted to the other side while he looked on in some surprise.

"When did you learn how to do that?" He asked when he caught up to her.

"Last night, while I was watching the mushi. I thought I'd give it a try." She grinned. "I can't seem to stay up indefinitely like the little ones, maybe because I'm so much bigger."

"There are mushi bigger than you who can fly." He smiled back. "You might just need more practice."

They continued until midday, when they took a break so Ginko could eat a quick lunch. After, they traveled for several more hours until evening. Setting up camp by a small stream, Ginko was able to catch some fish for his dinner. Nesu helped by foraging for more nuts. While he ate, he told her stories of his travels and of the many mushi he had encountered. She laughed at many of the misunderstandings he had to clear up and insulted anyone who should have known better. When he went to bed, she again wandered the forest surrounding the camp.

The next day was much the same. Simple meals for Ginko, floating practice for Nesu, and a lot of walking for them both. After so many years of traveling alone, Ginko was surprised to find himself enjoying her company so much. By the time they left the mountains and were approaching the seaside village, they seemed to have become good friends.


	6. Chapter 6: Teasing

They stopped talking when they entered the outskirts of the village. As a mushi, Nesu was invisible and inaudible to normal people and Ginko would have looked either foolish or crazy holding a conversation with thin air. The village itself was of the typical sort, consisting of simple, one-story, wooden houses scattered about dirt roads. By the shore, a number of small fishing boats were pulled up on the sand. Villagers could be seen cleaning and drying the days catch, mending nets, and going about the usual business of rural folk.

_Okay, not sure what I was expecting but this looks like something out of a period drama . . ._ Nesu thought to herself as she glanced around the village.

A short walk brought them to the largest house in the village, the only one with a second story. Boasting a large storehouse as well, it was clear that the owner was decently well-off. Ginko walked right up to the door and opened it with the casual ease of one who knows he is always welcome.

"Hey, Adashino-sensei!" He called out as he slipped off his shoes. "You home?"

Nesu followed, far less comfortably, after wiping her feet on a nearby patch of grass.

"Ginko-san!" A friendly voice called out, soon followed by a man with short black hair, monocle, and a simple green kimono. "Hisashiburi, ne? Been awhile."

"Yeah, got a few things you might like." Ginko slipped off his case and set it down on the floor as he took a seat while Adashino went to prepare tea.

"Um, I'm guessing he can't see me?" Nesu asked as she sat next to Ginko.

"No, but he loves everything to do with mushi." Ginko grinned. "If I tell him about you, he might die of excitement."

She laughed at that as Adashino returned with a pot of tea and a couple of cups on a tray.

"The housekeeper left already, so don't worry about being interrupted." He set the tray down between them, casting an eager glance at Ginko's case.

Ginko obliged by opening it and pulling out several small packages. Each one contained a mushi artifact from his most recent cases. He opened them one at a time, telling the story of each as he went. Adashino's excitement grew with each story. Ginko named surprisingly high prices for each item, which Adashino eagerly paid. While he never charged his clients much if anything to help them, most were simple country folk after all, he easily made up the difference with the wealthy doctor.

"I thought you were coming to visit a friend, not raid a treasury." Nesu joked, causing Ginko to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Adashino asked, glancing at his most recent purchase with sudden suspicion.

"Ah, nothing to do with those." Ginko waved away the doctor's concerns, cigarette smoke curling around him.

"What, then?" Adashino demanded.

"Just something that Nesu-san said." Ginko said simply, taking a pull from his cigarette to hide his smirk.

"Who is Nesu-san?" Adashino looked around in confusion.

"A human-turned-mushi I met in the mountains. She's sitting right next to me." Ginko gestured in her direction while she rolled her eyes.

"Really?" Adashino leaned in, staring about three inches to the left of where she actually was, trying to see her despite lacking the ability.

"That's my introduction, is it?" Nesu sighed, stealing Ginko's cup of tea in retaliation.

Adashino watched in fascination as the cup moved, seemingly without any support.

"Hey, something's really there!" Adashino's excitement was palpable. "You weren't tricking me!"

"Something, huh?" Nesu snatched Adashino's monocle, placing it over her own eye, while Ginko chuckled.

"If you want that back," Ginko pointed to the monocle, you should probably apologize for calling her a thing."

"Oh, yes, of course, sorry!" Adashino was as giddy as a child as she handed back his monocle. "It's just such a surprise!"

Ginko quickly related how he first saw Nesu in the koumyoku, finally meeting her, what she told him about how she got there, and about traveling through the mountains together.

"Amazing, simply amazing!" Adashino chuckled. "Ah, I wish something like that could happen to me!"

They talked for a while longer, catching up. Nesu continued to drink the tea, making occasional side comments to Ginko. They were clearly old friends and she began to feel left out. When the tea was gone, she set down the cup and went to look around. Adashino's house was decorated extensively with his collection. Everywhere she looked there was a strange assortment of objects in some way connected to mushi, including a pair of preserved horns. The case they were in said they came from a child who had been infected with the silence-eating Ah mushi.

When she returned to the room they were in, Adashino was just getting up to get lunch started. Ginko was repacking his case.

"So, what do you think of Adashino-sensei?" He asked as she sat back down.

"Nice enough, rather silly, somewhat obsessed."

Ginko chuckled.

Lunch consisted of fresh roasted fish, miso soup, rice, and a bottle of sake. Ginko ate hungrily, since it had been quite a while since his last substantive meal. Adashino ate slowly as he watched in fascination as Nesu's chopsticks moved through the air.

"I don't suppose you could get him to stop staring?" She asked in exasperation.

"Give him a break, not like he's ever gotten to see something like this." Ginko drained a cup of sake then refilled it.

"Huh?" Adashino reacted to Ginko's statement, who then relayed the request about staring. "Sorry."

After lunch had been finished and the dishes cleaned, they all ended up on the porch over-looking the sea. Ginko was smoking and Adashino had made more tea, this time bringing three cups.

"What are you thinking about?" Ginko asked when he noticed Nesu's thoughtful expression.

"Oh, nothing much." She shrugged. "It's just that, to me, everything in this village seems so archaic. Like it's from a century or more ago."

"Really?" He looked over the village as Adashino looked at him questioningly. "Things don't change very quickly in a place like this, but it doesn't seem out of place to me."

"I'm the one that's out of place." She sighed. "And no, I'm not from the future. Time travel is impossible. The world I came from and this one must be out of sync, is all. I guess it's just as well most people can't see me and my clothes are destroyed: I'd stick out like a sore them otherwise."

"I hadn't thought of that." Ginko mused for a moment, and then had to summarize the conversation for Adashino.

"Wait, what?" Adashino looked at Ginko. "You're telling me you've been wandering around the mountains for days with a naked woman?"

"Not naked! She has clothes, they're just shredded." Ginko quickly corrected while Nesu laughed.

"I could be naked." She plucked at the remnants of her clothing. "Wouldn't make much difference since you're the only one here who can see me."

"Yes, it would." Ginko glared at her, the effect of which was ruined by the scarlet blush creeping up his ears while Adashino begged him to tell him what she said.


	7. Chapter 7: Change of Clothes

Around mid-afternoon a villager came and asked for the doctor. A family member was ill. Adashino politely excused himself and followed the villager away. There didn't seem to be anything unusual about the symptoms, so there was no need for the mushishi to come as well. Ginko and Nesu were left to their own devices. Laying claim to the remaining tea, Nesu made herself comfortable as she watched the village from the porch. Ginko, ever-present cigarette in hand, watched her.

He had noticed the tattered state of her clothing when he met her on the bank of the koumyoku. Since he couldn't have offered her his coat, had they come across anyone the garment walking about seemingly of its own volition would have been very strange, and she didn't say anything he had done his best to ignore it. Once they'd started talking he'd simply gotten used to it. In fact, she had been so comfortable that her exposure hadn't seemed out of place or evocative at all. Until Adashino commented on it, clearly making inappropriate assumptions.

Now, Ginko had to make an effort not to look at the body revealed by her rags. Her dark blue hair fell over her pale and faintly glowing shoulders as she sat drinking tea. They were wider than was typical for a woman so short, but were balanced by her full hips. He wrenched his eyes away before they explored any further. It was essential that they find some way for her to get a new set of clothes. But other than clothing that was changed along with the person when they became a mushi, Ginko had no idea how suitable clothing could be obtained.

Adashino returned a couple of hours later, just as the sun was beginning to set. The illness had been a simple one, easily treated. A woman had come with him, presumably the housekeeper he had mentioned before since she immediately began cooking dinner. While she was busy, Adashino joined Ginko and Nesu on the porch.

"Hey, ask him if he has any old clothes he doesn't need or could find some." Nesu said to Ginko.

"Why?" Ginko looked surprised.

"Well, in case you hadn't noticed, I could use some replacements." She rolled her eyes.

"Of course I noticed." Ginko grumbled as Adashino waited for an explanation. "But normal ones won't do any good."

"I had a thought on that." She smiled. "My original clothes changed when I was in the koumyoku, right? So if go there and soak the new ones they should change too."

"Hm . . . I guess that might work . . . " Ginko turned to Adashino and explained her request.

"Well, I don't really have anything that would suit a woman but I'll see what I have."

The housekeeper only set out two places at dinner before she left, but there was enough left over to make another for Nesu. After eating and cleaning up, Adashino left to root through his closets. He returned with a miscellaneous pile which he set on the floor of the main room, along with a ball of twine that could be used to keep control of the garments when they were set in the koumyoku.

"You're in luck! I actually found a couple of women's kimonos left behind by former patients." Adashino declared.

Nesu began to sort through the pile as Adashino watched the clothing move through the air. She discarded the most brightly colored options, preferring the darker shades. Eventually she decided on a pair of gray trousers from an old jinbei (men's summer clothing), a short blue kimono, and a black obi to tie it together.

"That seems an odd choice. Wouldn't this be better?" Adashino held up a flower-printed furisode, long-sleeved women's kimono.

"A patient wouldn't leave something like that behind, Adashino-sensei, I don't even want to know how you got it. Besides, what she picked is better for walking through the woods." Ginko admonished while the doctor blushed.

"You can critique my fashion sense while I'm gone." Nesu grabbed the twine and stood, rolling her eyes.

"Think you can get there and back on your own?" Ginko asked as she headed for the door.

"If I can't get there, I'll be back in a moment. If I can't get back, I'll shout until you come find me." She laughed as she stepped out.

The koumyoku was not nearly as visible here in the village, away from the natural setting of the mountain, but everywhere there was life it could be seen. Standing in the fading light she concentrated until she could see a faint light. Remembering what the transition before had felt like, she pushed herself towards the light. The shift was sudden and she landed with a stumble but smiled at her success.

_There's step one out of the way._

Threading the twine through the sleeves of the kimono, a leg of the trousers, and tying the obi in between, she broke a long length away from the ball. Holding the ends in her hand she threw the clothes into the koumyoku and took a seat on the bank. She had no idea how long this would take so she made herself comfortable. Every once in a while she would pull the clothing back to check on it.

_What are you doing?_ Nui's thoughts came as the great silver catfish rose up out of the river of light.

_Laundry, what else?_ Nesu replied in a joking tone.

_Those are not your clothes, and the clothing of a human-turned-mushi shouldn't need washing anyway._

Nesu explained about the state of her clothes and her idea of replacing them.

_I guess you didn't notice the state I was in due to your lack of eyes._

_A consequence of my transformation._ Nui twisted in what must have been meant as a shrug. _It is an interesting experiment you have come up with._

Nui asked how she had been and Nesu told her about meeting and traveling through the mountains with Ginko, learning about mushi, and about meeting Adashino and his amusing obsession.

_I'm glad that I found out I can still eat in this form and it was nice of him to feed me along with Ginko, I just wish he hadn't stared all the time!_ She laughed.

_Well, some people have no manners._ Nui chuckled.

After several hours of chatting with Nui, the clothing soaking in the koumyoku finally transformed. Removing them from the twine Nesu noted that it had changed as well and coiled it up carefully. She stripped off the tattered remains of her clothing and put on the new set. Wrapping the obi several times around her middle, from under her bust to her waist, she tied it like a sash instead of the more traditional manner. She slipped the mushi-twine into her sleeve and picked up the rest of the normal ball.

_Time to head back, I guess._

_Another time, then._ Nui swam back into the depths.

Looking up and concentrating on the feeling of transition, Nesu pushed away from the bank of the koumyoku. The world faded in around her as she again landed with a stumble. Noting that she needed to work on her landings, she headed back into the house.

"You're back." Ginko looked over as she came in and looked over her new clothes. "Looks like it worked."

"Yeah, and I didn't even need to be rescued." She set aside the ball of twine and went to sit next to him. "How come you're not asleep?"

"I figured I'd wait until you got back, just in case." He yawned.

"Thanks." She chuckled as he yawned again. "I think you should go to bed now."

"I think you're right." He got up and headed for the room where he'd be sleeping, but paused. "What did you do with your old clothes?"

"Tossed them." She shrugged. "Why?"

"I think Adashino-sensei was hoping to add them to his collection." Ginko grinned as he left the room.

"Haven't you fleeced him enough for one visit?" She called after him, rolling her eyes.

She spent the rest of the night sitting on the porch, watching the moonlight on the waves.


	8. Chapter 8: Blue Tea

The next morning Ginko repacked his case, adding some supplies that Adashino gave him. Nesu had no need to pack but examined all of his equipment as he checked each piece. After breakfast they said goodbye to Adashino, though Ginko had to relate Nesu's farewell. They headed out of the village, Nesu lightly floating along as Ginko steadily walked along the road.

"You've gotten good at that." He smiled at her.

"And I don't need sandals." She laughed.

Before they stopped for lunch there was a rattling in Ginko's case. Rummaging through a drawer he pulled out an egg-shaped object wrapped in paper. Peeling aside a patch of paper, he extracted a letter.

"Ah, this is nearby."

"Hm?" Nesu looked over his shoulder at the letter.

It was a request for help from a village. Some people had fallen ill with a strange disease that the local doctors couldn't identify. They were at a loss and asked for a mushishi to come and help.

"So you're going to go? I'll get to see you work." Nesu smiled.

"Yeah." He hefted his case and continued walking.

A couple of days later they reached the village in question. The local doctor, who had sent the letter, greeted Ginko and offered to let him stay at his home for the duration of his stay. He couldn't see Nesu, so she was careful to stay out of the way. After serving tea, the doctor explained the symptoms of the strange condition affecting the villagers: they were cold and clammy, becoming unresponsive over a period of three days until they ceased to wake. The victims were all different ages, male and female.

"I'll need to examine them myself." Ginko took a drag on his cigarette.

"Yes, of course." The doctor stood and led the way to the nearest victim's home.

"I think I've actually heard of something like that before . . . " Nesu mused as she followed along.

" . . . ?" Ginko looked glanced at her.

"I'm not certain," Nesu offered, "medicine wasn't something I studied."

Ginko nodded in reply.

This victim had already fallen unconscious. Ginko carefully examined them, taking samples to analyze later. Next, the doctor led them to other victims. The last one, a young boy, was still conscious. In addition to the examination Ginko took the opportunity to question him.

"Before you got sick, did you do anything unusual?"

"Not really, but I found something strange in the woods."

"What did you find?"

"It looked like a tea plant, but the leaves were blue."

"A blue tea plant? Did you drink any tea made from it?"

"Yes, it was really good . . . " the boy drifted off to sleep.

They returned to the doctor's house and Ginko began to analyze his samples.

"You think they all drank this blue tea?" Nesu asked as she watched him work.

"Seems likely." He made some notes. "Tea is expensive, so if they found something they thought was tea the villagers would definitely try it."

"And, well, blue. I'd definitely try blue tea."

"Yeah, I might too." Ginko chuckled.

The next day Ginko and Nesu headed into the forest surrounding the village. There were many well-worn paths. Thinking that the villagers had probably found the blue tea plant on a typical walk, they followed the paths. They spent hours searching, stopping to take a break for lunch near a stream. The sun had begun to set when they finally found the plant. It did indeed strongly resemble a tea plant with dark blue leaves. Ginko carefully harvested a number of sprigs from the plant.

"Oh wow." Nesu stroked the leaves.

"Be careful, we don't know what it is yet." Ginko smiled.

"Yeah," she smiled, "but it's so unusual."

They headed back to the village. After dinner Ginko conducted more experiments to analyze the freshly harvested plant material. Taking notes and comparing results, he eventually reached a conclusion.

"Well, it's definitely a mushi. Aoiko. They've spread throughout the plant." He didn't sound enthusiastic.

"Can you help the villagers?" Nesu asked, sitting next to him.

"Hm." He pulled out a scroll and examined it. "There's only one known treatment, another plant-infusing mushi. There should be some in the same area but it won't be easy to find: it's rare."

"Another plant-hunt tomorrow then?"

"Yeah."

"Then you should get some sleep." Nesu stood and turned to the door.

"Goodnight." He watched her leave.

"Goodnight." She stepped out of the house and went up to the roof to watch the stars.


	9. Chapter 9: Red Flowers

The next morning they again headed out right after breakfast. According to Ginko's scrolls, the cure for the effects of the mushi that turned the tea plant blue was most often found in orchids, which it turned bright crimson. The Akaiko. They hadn't seen any such flowers the day before, near the paths, so it was necessary to expand their search. Beyond the paths the forest was rather overgrown, making it slow going.

"Ugh." Ginko sat down heavily a half a day in.

"Tired?" Nesu glanced over from where she was standing, unfazed.

Ginko glared in reply.

"Well, how about you take a rest and I keep going?"

"Are you sure you could identify the right flower?"

"Eh, I'll come back with a blossom as soon as I find any red flowers." She smiled.

With a sigh of relief, Ginko leaned back and relaxed.

Nesu laughed, and then drifted off.

She was able to move much more easily through the brush and made good time. But the flowers were nowhere to be seen. She covered acres of forestland and the sun was beginning to set when she came to the base of a cliff. Grumbling, she looked up to decide whether it would be better to circle around or go over. Her eyes widened in surprise and she grinned. On a small projection, it looked less than a foot wide; she spotted a group of bright red flowers. She floated up to the ledge to get a better look. The flowers were, luckily orchids.

After picking a few she retraced her path. It took her very little time to return to Ginko. He had woken up from his nap and was smoking. As soon as she appeared, he shot to his feet.

"What took so long?" He asked as she approached.

"Were you worried?" She smiled.

"Not about your safety." He looked aside. "But you might have gotten lost."

"That would have been embarrassing." She laughed and held up the flowers. "But look what I found."

Ginko took the flowers from her and quickly examined them.

"I think this might be it, but I'll have to run some tests." He smiled. "Where were they?"

"Growing out of the side of a cliff, there are a few more if these are what we need."

"Excellent." Ginko turned to head back to the village, Nesu at his side.

Upon returning to the doctor's house, he immediately set to work analyzing the flowers. The results were consistent with the records, so he began preparing the treatment for the infected villagers while Nesu quickly flew to the cliff and back to bring more flowers. The next morning they went with the doctor to visit every victim and administer the treatment. By the afternoon, all had awoken and begun to recover.

"Remarkable, I never knew such flowers had medicinal qualities." The doctor smiled at a crimson orchid.

"It would be an ordinary orchid if it wasn't for the Akaiko mushi living in it, which is only useful for treating the symptoms caused by the Aoiko mushi that the villagers drank when they made tea from infected plants." Ginko explained to the doctor.

"Well, at least everything is taken care of now." The doctor set aside the flower.

"Yeah, as long as no one drinks any more blue tea." Nesu rolled her eyes. "That cliff would be very dangerous for humans to scale."

Ginko hid a sigh by taking a drag from his cigarette.

The grateful villagers provided a hearty dinner that evening in celebration. There was enough sake to go around that no one noticed when Nesu stole a bit for herself here and there. Ginko set a bottle aside and when everyone else had retired for the evening brought it out to share with Nesu.

"Sorry you didn't get much the last couple of days, but I don't think the doctor or villagers would have really understood about you if I had tried to explain." He poured generous servings for each of them.

"I understand." She smiled and took a sip. "That doctor didn't seem to really get what mushi were."

"Yeah, I've gotten used to people having no idea what I'm saying." He raised his own glass.

"And they can at least see you." She laughed. "I'd have to pull all sorts of stunts to prove I was even here."

"That sort of thing doesn't go over well when people fear for the lives of their loved ones."

"I know . . . which is why I didn't try anything."

When the sake was gone they said goodnight. Ginko went to sleep and Nesu took to the roof. The next morning as they prepared to leave, the villagers gave Ginko as much food as he could carry and many small gifts that he had to accept out of politeness. After packing everything as efficiently as possible and discarding the most useless items with Nesu's help, they left the village behind.


	10. Chapter 10: The Lake

The road out of the village passed through dense forest. When they came out into the sun it was dazzling. Ginko blinked and shaded his eyes. Nesu cursed and kept her eyes closed for a full minute, drifting along behind Ginko. Soon enough they had adjusted and continued normally. They passed a few other travelers on the road who nodded to Ginko. The road diverged, one direction heading to a large city the other a secluded lake.

"Which way, do you think?" Ginko asked, taking a drag from his cigarette.

"You're asking me?" Nesu was surprised. "How should I know?"

"Hm, the lake then." He led the way. "Had enough of normal people for a bit."

The road to the lake was far less worn than the road to the city. Grass encroached in odd patches. There were no other travelers here so Nesu didn't have to worry about getting in any one's way, until around midday when they reached a tea stand. While Ginko ordered tea and something to eat, Nesu went to look around.

The tea stand was old and worn, but in good condition despite how little business such an isolated location could receive. The location itself, however, was quite lovely. Nesu drifted around taking in the wide fields dotted with flowers and hills in the distance. The lake itself was not yet visible. Ginko was just finishing his tea when she circled back.

After picking up his case and paying the proprietor they headed on down the road. It was quite a while before the lake came into view. The sun was setting when they reached the shore, lighting up the ripples on the lake. Nesu watched the shifting light as Ginko set down his case. There was plenty of driftwood nearby so a fire was quickly laid and dinner started.

"You don't mind these, do you?" He paused before lighting up a fresh cigarette.

"No." She gave him a curious look. "You've been smoking them since we met, and now you ask?"

"Well, I'm so used to them it didn't occur to me to ask. But they repel mushi so I thought that they might be a problem for you."

Nesu laughed.

"Lucky for you, they aren't. I grew up with a mother who always smoked strong tobacco so the smell doesn't bother me, yours even smells better, and whatever mushi-repelling qualities it might have don't seem affect me. Is that unusual?"

"It's meant for weaker mushi, so stronger ones can resist it."

"Good for me, I guess."

Dinner was better than usual, with the gifts from the village. This included a bottle of sake. They ate a pleasant meal as they watched the sun set and the moon rise. After everything was cleaned up and put away, Ginko pulled a small package out of the pocket of his coat.

"They had these at the tea stand." He handed her the package. "Have you had dango before?"

"No, but I always wanted to try them." She grinned as she unwrapped the skewer of dumplings and ate the first one.

"I take it you like them?" Ginko grinned.

Nesu only nodded in reply, chewing another dumpling.

Ginko chuckled.

She tossed the wrapper and skewer on the embers of the fire as Ginko laid out his bedroll. Nesu sat looking out over the lake.

"Not going for a walk?" He looked over.

"No, I like the view here. Why? Would you prefer if I left while you slept?" She tilted her head and looked quizzically at him.

"I'm not the best company while I'm asleep, so I thought you preferred to go off on your own."

She laughed.

"At first I was curious about all the mushi, then I just wanted to let you rest when we were at Adashino-sensei's and in the village. I went to find the best view each place. Here, the view is right here." She stood. "But it should be just as nice further up the shore."

"No, you can stay."

Ginko closed his eyes as Nesu sat back down and watched the light play over the lake.


	11. Chapter 11: The City

The next morning Ginko was woken by a rattling from his case. Dawn was only just breaking and he grumbled at the disturbance. Nesu gathered driftwood and started a fire for breakfast while he extracted and read the letter. When the food was ready he handed her the letter to read. Rather than a request from troubled villagers it was a message from another mushishi.

They had recently passed through the city Ginko had decided to bypass and encountered a troubling situation: a child locked away in a mansion with an unusual condition that no doctor had been able to diagnose. When the mushishi had offered to help he had been driven away by armed guards. They requested that any mushishi in the area try to look into the situation.

"Armed guards?" Nesu handed the letter back.

"People may not always trust us mushishi, but they don't usually resort to violence." Ginko lit up a cigarette. "I don't like the sound of this."

"We're pretty close, going to check it out?"

"It'll bother me if I don't." Ginko sighed.

After cleaning up breakfast and repacking everything in Ginko's case, they headed back the way they had come the previous day. They reached the tea stand around midday and Ginko got a couple skewers of dango for them to eat as they walked. The lake road was as empty as it was before and Nesu finished her dango before they reached the main road.

There were quite a few people heading towards the city so Nesu had to be sure to stay out of the way. She floated above the level of people's heads, next to Ginko. The city road was well-worn and free of grass. Carts kicked up dust causing people to cough and choke when they went by. From her vantage point, Nesu saw the first few buildings of a wayside village come into view. They stopped at a small inn for the night.

"This is why I don't like cities much." Ginko remarked when they were alone in their room as he knocked the dust off of his clothes.

"Well, cities are an inevitable consequence of civilization growing in complexity." Nesu stretched out. "But we're stuck with dust and dirt. Frankly, the dust is preferable to some of things you can find in the cities I'm used to."

"Somehow, I don't think I want to know."

"Definitely not." Nesu laughed.

The next day was again spent on the road. It was just as dusty as before, with just as many people. By midday the outlying buildings of the city had just become visible. They did not actually reach the city until evening. The streets were crowded and noisy as shopkeepers called out to weary travelers to come in for food, drink, and to rest. Ginko passed them by, looking for the mansion indicated in the letter.

When they found the mansion it was one of the largest buildings in the city. The armed guards were not readily visible, though the high walls and secure gate made their presence likely. Ginko stood across the road and watched the building. Nesu floated above him. What they could both see that the people on the street couldn't were the clouds of mushi streaming into the mansion.

"Well, I'm guessing no one in there can see them." Nesu remarked.

"Hm." Ginko glanced up at her, puffing on his cigarette, not able to say much with the people around.

"If they've already thrown out one mushishi, you probably can't get in just by asking."

Ginko nodded, and then walked away.

He headed back to where the least expensive inns were and got a room. Dinner was brought up by a servant who left after bringing the tray. Nesu took the miso soup and Ginko ate the rest. When they were finished, Ginko set the tray with the dishes outside the door. He took a seat and lit another cigarette.

"Come up with any ideas?" Nesu asked.

"There aren't usually that many mushi in a city like this, and definitely not in the same place." Ginko looked thoughtful. "Something has to be attracting them."

"Ya think?" She rolled her eyes.

"Alright, that was obvious." Ginko smiled. "The question, then, is what is attracting them. It seems like too much of a coincidence that there is supposed to be a sick child in the house. The child, or whatever is affecting the child, is likely the cause."

"So we need to get in and see the kid."

"Yes, but the owners aren't going to let me in if they don't like mushishi."

"True." She leaned back. "If they threw one out they'd throw out another. So I guess it's up to me."

"The guards wouldn't be able to see you . . . " Ginko admitted.

"The mushi should lead me straight to whatever or whoever is attracting them, and then I can report back to you about what I find."

"You've learned quite a bit about mushi while we've been traveling together, but do you really think you can figure this out?"

"Never said I thought I was." She sat back up and looked at him. "Hence reporting back to you, so you can figure it out. Then, if they still won't let you in, I go back and do whatever you need me to do to take care of the situation."

Ginko looked irritated.

"What's bothering you? Not being hands-on the situation?"

"Something like that." He looked away.

Nesu rolled her eyes.

"Okay, then. Should I go tonight or wait until morning so I can see what sort of household it is? Might be helpful for getting you in later."

"The morning should be fine." He laid out the futon and pillow provided by the inn. "You may not need to sleep, but you should still rest occasionally."

"Alright." Nesu settled in by the window to watch the nightlife in the city.

_Why am I worried about her going there alone?_ Ginko thought as he drifted off to sleep. _It isn't like there's a chance of her being captured . . . there shouldn't be anyone who could see her . . ._


	12. Chapter 12: The Child

The next morning they returned to the mansion. Ginko found a place he could watch without being disturbed by too many people and settled in. Nesu drifted invisibly over the wall of the mansion. She saw the guards patrolling the grounds inside and passed easily over their heads. The various servants went about their business, occasionally glancing at the guards. She followed the mushi into the house.

Her estimation that no one here could see mushi appeared to be correct. The house was simply full of the strange creatures, but no one reacted to them. She followed the groups that seemed to move with the most purpose through the house. It seemed as if they were pursuing a trail through the house, taking various turns instead of simply passing through walls and floors to reach their destination.

Eventually the mushi led her to an isolated room set aside from the rest of the house. There were several guards standing watch by the door and windows. Nesu followed the mushi inside, passing through the wall. In the room there was a child seated at a small desk practicing writing. The child was rather pale and sickly looking. The mushi were swirling around the child, who occasionally tried to brush them out of the way.

"Well, it seems you can see them at least." Nesu remarked.

The child jumped at the sound of her voice, turning to look for the source. When he, the child appeared to be male, saw her he looked about to scream.

"Hey, now, I don't mean any harm." She held up her hands and tried to smile reassuringly.

"Who are you?" He asked hesitatingly. "You aren't a servant here and you don't look like another doctor."

"My name is Nesu." She took a couple of steps towards the boy. "And you're right: I'm not a servant or a doctor. But I might be able to help you with these mushi."

"Mushi?" He looked confused.

"These things." She gestured towards the mushi around her as she took a few more steps.

"You can see them too?"

"Yeah." She took a seat across the desk from him. "They are called mushi and while normally not harmful they can cause trouble when you've got so many all in the same place."

"Do they make people sick?" He sounded curious now.

"Some can." She nodded. "Are you sick?"

"I've always been sick." He put aside his writing. "It's why I have to stay here. I hardly get to see the main house anymore."

"That's too bad." She smiled. "Kids should get to run around and play."

"But if I go outside I'll get worse. At least, that's what the doctors say."

"Well, doctors don't usually know anything about mushi." She rested her elbows on the desk. "If you got to move around more the mushi wouldn't cluster up so much around you."

"So I'd get better if I went outside?" He sounded eager.

"Maybe. It would depend on exactly what is making you sick."

"Can you find out?"

"I don't have all the necessary training to be trying to figure it out."

"But you said you could help." He leaned back, looking crestfallen.

"And I can." She grinned. "I happen to know a very good mushishi who, if he could see you, could almost certainly sort all this out."

"Mushishi?" He sounded suspicious. "Is that some kind of doctor?"

"A mushishi studies mushi." She explained. "They know all about how they live, what they do, and how to take care of them when they cause problems."

"And you think this mushishi could help me?"

"If your problems are caused by mushi," she looked serious, "then he is your best bet."

"Then please bring him to see me." He sounded excited.

"Well, there's a problem with that." She sighed. "It seems your parents, or whoever is in charge here, doesn't like mushishi. They've already gotten rid of one who came to offer his help, so my friend is waiting to see if I can find him a way in."

"How did you get in?"

"The same way the mushi did." She laughed. "Unfortunately, my friend doesn't have my skill and can't get in like I did."

"That's too bad . . . "

"Do you think you could change your parents' mind about letting a mushishi in to try to help you? Or will we need to be sneaky?"

"Father is . . . very strict in his ways."

"That would be a 'no' then . . . sneaky it is!" She grinned.


	13. Chapter 13: Being Sneaky

The next moment someone could be heard talking to the guards. Nesu signaled the boy to be quiet, and then slipped into the back room. Not sure how the boy would react, she thought it best to exit from an empty room rather than explaining why the servant bringing his lunch couldn't see her. She headed back to the main house and looked around until she found the boy's father.

He was in a room with a desk and cabinets talking to several other men. They were giving reports. Apparently, he was a very wealthy merchant. The way he treated his underlings confirmed what the boy said about him being strict; she'd even go so far as to say harsh. Convincing him to let Ginko in would be difficult.

She left the house and returned to where Ginko was waiting. Once he saw her he quickly headed back to the inn so that they could talk. Lunch was served in the same manner as dinner the night before, leaving the dishes in the hall to be collected by a servant later. Nesu told Ginko everything that she had seen in the mansion and about the conversation she had with the boy.

"If he isn't attracting the mushi, something in or on him must be." She finished.

"Hm. Did he have any symptoms you left out?" Ginko asked, taking a drag from his cigarette.

"No, he was just pale and weak-looking. This could come from spending so much time locked up with clouds of mushi bothering him all the time."

"So the only way to be certain is to see him in person."

"Seems that way." She leaned back. "I see three options for that. Number one, we try to sneak you in passed the guards. Number two, I try to sneak the kid out to here. Number three, I pester that up-tight merchant until he's forced to ask you for help."

"Number one is trespassing and number two is kidnapping." He smirked at her. "You are aware that both of those are illegal, right?"

"Sure, but who's going to charge me?" She laughed. "Number three would be harassment which should be illegal as well, but since I'd be on my own it would be the safest: I'm least likely to be caught."

"True." He sighed. "But it could still be dangerous: what if a wild strike from one of the guards reached you?"

"Worried about me, huh?" She smiled and stood. "I'll be careful."

"Starting immediately?"

"Might as well. Don't know how long it will take." She waved as she left through the window.

Nesu sped back to the mansion and looked for the merchant. Ginko followed and took up his observation post again. When she found the master of the mansion, he was going over documents alone. His underlings had left after finishing their reports. With a grin, she set to work. Starting small, she knocked papers and scrolls off of his desk. Then, when he went to pick them up, his teacup. She kept this up for the rest of the afternoon, progressing to knocking things out of his hands at dinner. When he went to bed she knocked things over and kept him awake for most of the night.

The next morning she started again, gradually stepping up her actions. By that evening she was tripping him whenever he tried to walk anywhere. The next day culminated in shoving. She kept this up for a week, until the harassment was clearly taking a toll on him. When she thought he was ready to break she left to tell Ginko.

"You can be quite ruthless, can't you?" He shook his head, trying not to smile. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."

"Hey, I could do worse if I thought I needed to." She laughed and returned to the mansion.

Ginko would approach the mansion in the morning, so there was one more night to work on the merchant. She didn't let him get any sleep at all, causing all sorts of disturbances to which his wife and servants bore witness. Some of the more superstitious ones even quit. By morning he was shaking with fear.

Ginko approached the guard at the gate of the mansion around breakfast time.

"Good morning." He nodded to the guard with a smile.

"What's there to smile about?" The guard was irritable from lack of sleep.

"Well, it's a fine day, isn't it? Is there something wrong here to keep you from noticing?"

"Only that this house is plagued by evil spirits, bent on destroying the master."

"Hm. I don't see any evil spirits, but I do see plenty of mushi. They can be troublesome."

"Mushi? Not that nonsense again!" The guard leveled his spear at Ginko.

"Hey, put that away and think a moment. Are mushi really harder to believe in than evil spirits? Why not tell your master that I might be able to help instead of threatening me?"

The guard considered what Ginko said. He called over another servant and sent a message back to the house telling the merchant that mushi might be the cause of the trouble and there was a mushishi offering to help. The servant quickly returned to escort Ginko to the master of the house. Nesu was tossing small objects at the merchant when Ginko arrived.

"Well, you definitely have a mushi problem." He hid a smirk behind his hand as he took a drag from his cigarette.


	14. Chapter 14: Fixing the Problem

Ginko took the opportunity to explain to the merchant all about mushi while he extracted a few things from his case. The man listened attentively now that he was willing to accept such seemingly strange ideas. In order to preserve the fiction that had gotten him inside to help the child, Ginko spread some useless powder around and Nesu ceased her actions against the merchant. He was so relieved he thanked Ginko and led the way to the child's room.

Nesu darted ahead and entered before the others arrived.

"Hey there!" She smiled as the boy turned to her.

"Nesu-san! Where have you been?"

"Convincing your father to let my friend in. They're coming now."

"Really?"

"Of course." She moved to stand in a corner to be out of the way. "But don't mention me to your father: not that I'm here or anything, okay?"

He gave her an odd look but nodded.

The door opened a moment later and the merchant entered with Ginko.

"That is an awful lot of mushi." Ginko remarked as he set down his case and took a seat near the boy.

"Son, this is Ginko-san. He is here to help you." The merchant sat as well.

"Thank you for coming, Ginko-san." The boy bowed.

"I was in the area." Ginko shrugged. "So, can you tell me your story?"

"As far back as I can remember I have been able to see strange things floating around me. I used to think everyone could see them. But when I spoke of them to father and learned that he could not, I began to worry that something was wrong with me."

"I summoned the best doctors that money could buy," the merchant interjected, "but none could treat or explain his visions except as madness. He is my only son so I locked him away rather than send him to an asylum."

"You should have let a mushishi look at him years ago." Ginko sighed. "He isn't insane and there isn't anything really wrong with him. He can see mushi, which is a rare gift, and he attracts mushi, which can be dealt with."

Ginko rummaged in his case while the father and son smiled at each other in relief.

"So you can cure him?" The merchant asked eagerly.

"No, there's no way to stop him from attracting mushi." Ginko paused as he set a box on the floor in front of him. "This is a special blend of incense that repels mushi. It's most effective when concentrated so you should close the doors and windows when you use it. There's also a blend that can be smoked," he gestured with his own cigarette, "but you're a bit young to pick up the habit. These can keep the mushi at bay, but only while the smoke is present."

"My son can't spend his life in a smoke-filled room!" The merchant sounded indignant.

"This is why the best solution is to travel." Ginko turned to the boy. "I attract mushi as well, so I know from personal experience. If you stay on the move, the mushi don't have time to build up."

"So, going outside really will make me better?" The boy's glance flicked between Ginko and where Nesu stood out of the way.

"Since there doesn't seem to be anything else wrong with you, almost certainly." Ginko glanced at her as well. "But you can't just go outside and walk around the courtyard. You really shouldn't spend more than a week in one place, less in spring and around harvest time. Though you might be able to manage a month in winter if you are far enough from the koumyoku."

"So little time?" The merchant looked at his son with an expression of loss.

"He can return here periodically, after spending a year away to let the mushi disperse." Ginko considered for a moment. "Once a season, probably, since this city doesn't seem to be near the koumyoku."

"You've mentioned this 'koumyoku' twice now." The boy spoke while his father considered what Ginko said. "What is it?"

"The light flow, the flow of life within the earth." Ginko extracted a scroll from his case. "This explains the basics of mushishi lore and should answer most of your questions."

"Thank you." The boy took the scroll and opened it.

"I really must send my son away?" The merchant asked.

"I'm afraid so."

"Must he go alone?"

"Most people who attract mushi end up loners." Ginko scratched his head. "I've always traveled by myself until recently," he glanced at Nesu, "but as long as they understand that he has to keep on the move and don't slow him down there's no rule against companions."

"Then I would like to hire you to keep my son safe on the road."

The boy looked up from the scroll and looked suddenly at his father and Ginko.

"I'm afraid I have to decline." Ginko took another drag from his cigarette.

"Why?" The merchant demanded. "I would go myself, but cannot afford to leave the business for so long. I can pay you handsomely, provide servants to attend to menial details, and my extensive business network will ensure that you always have the best of everything."

"I'm a mushishi, not a babysitter. No offence, kid." Ginko glanced at the boy. "And having two people who attract mushi in the same place at the same time would double the rate at which mushi accumulate."

"But you could teach me so much!" The boy pointed out.

"So could another mushishi, and there are others who don't attract mushi." Ginko sighed. "I can send a letter, to see if there are any willing to take the job. At the very least, they can help keep you supplied with the incense here and on the road."

"So be it." The merchant stood and turned to the door. "I will start making the arrangements for my son's journey. Please allow me to show my gratitude by accepting the hospitality of this house and remain until the morning."

"I have never seen father so kind and understanding." The boy said in surprise after his father left.

"I think Nesu had something to do with that." Ginko borrowed the boy's desk and writing materials to write his letter.

"How did you manage to convince him?" The boy asked as she left the corner to join him.

"Sheer annoyance, really." She took a seat.

"The guard at the gate was convinced this place was haunted." Ginko added.

The boy glanced between them in evident confusion.

"Way to put me on the spot." She rolled her eyes then looked at the boy. "Simply talking to him wouldn't have worked, since another mushishi had already tried and failed, so I harassed him day and night. Your father, mother, servants, and guards can't see or hear me."

"How is that possible?"

"None of them can see mushi, can they?" She leaned in closer. "Take a good look at me and think about what you know about mushi."

The boy's eyes widened as realization hit him.

"You didn't tell him?" Ginko asked as he carefully pushed the letter into the uro nest, the paper-wrapped egg-shaped object that handled mail for mushishi.

"I wasn't sure how he'd react at first." She shrugged.

The boy grinned as he began pelting her with questions about being a mushi, eager to hear her answers.

"It seems I needn't have worried." Nesu sighed as she tried to answer.

"I don't know: he could end up worse than Adashino-sensei." Ginko chuckled.


	15. Chapter 15: Musings

They stayed at the mansion for the rest of that day. Most of their time was spent in the company of the boy while they answered his questions about mushi and life on the road. Ginko and the boy joined the rest of the household for lunch and dinner, smuggling small amounts of food away for Nesu to have afterwards when they were alone again. The guest room given to Ginko for the night was far larger and more comfortable than the one at the inn.

"Things seem to be off to a good start here." He sighed as he sat at the window of the room and looked out over the grounds.

"Now that the kid's father isn't so uptight anymore." Nesu chuckled and nibbled on a nikuman salvaged from diner.

"Has your morality always been so questionable, or is this a recent development?" He glanced at her.

"That's a loaded question." She rolled her eyes. "If you're asking if I've ever done anything like that before or if I was a criminal back when I was human, the answer is no. If you're asking if I considered doing something of the sort, the answer is also no. If you're asking if I wanted to, then it's an absolute yes. There have always been people I think needed to be knocked down, taught a lesson, punished, or worse. But I've never felt that they were worth the risk of putting my freedom, well-being, or life on the line for. Or worth the effort it would take to come up with a fool-proof scheme to avoid negative consequences. The only difference between how I was as a human and how I am as a mushi is that since I am invisible to most people there is less risk when taking such action. I am free to do that which I think needs to be done without worrying about consequences."

"So you felt this man deserved everything you did to him?"

"Yes. The way he kept his son locked up rather than getting him the right sort of help, even when a mushishi came to offer. And the harsh manner in which he treated his employees. He was domineering and needed to be taken down a few pegs. It isn't like I caused him any permanent damage either." She shrugged.

"There is that, I suppose."

"Hey, you're the one that didn't try to stop me." She pointed out.

"True." Ginko smirked. "I guess I thought he deserved it too."

Ginko finished his cigarette then took advantage of the bath facilities of the mansion. Nesu took a stroll across the grounds to check on the boy. He had already gone to bed so she only poked her head inside. She wrinkled her nose at the smoke of the mushi-repelling incense. It was definitely stronger than the cigarettes.

When she got back to the room Ginko hadn't returned yet. She rummaged through his case and picked out a scroll of mushi lore to read. The moon was high when Ginko came back. After his bath he was wearing a kosode, a kimono with reduced sleeves, rather than his usual Western-style clothes.

"Find anything interesting?" He asked as he laid out the futon.

"Of course. It's fascinating to learn how the mundane and the mysterious come together." She glanced over after her reply and paused. "That's a different look for you."

"It would have been rude to refuse and my clothes needed cleaning anyway." He shrugged. "Besides, it's comfortable."

She chuckled as he lay down to go to sleep.

Nesu spent the entire night reading. In the morning Ginko's clothes were returned and he changed before joining the family for breakfast. She carefully rerolled the scrolls and properly packed the case. They prepared to leave immediately after breakfast. Ginko had not received a reply to his letter yet, but since he had included the location of the house and the names of the merchant and his son he assured them there was no cause for concern: another mushishi could arrive at any time.

The merchant insisted on paying Ginko when he said goodbye. It was more than he usually charged, when he charged at all, but couldn't refuse without being rude. The boy was excited about his impending trip and tried to get Ginko to promise to meet him somewhere. Nesu chuckled while he gave evasive answers.

With a final farewell they were on their way. They followed the road out the opposite side of the city. It started out just as dusty as the side they entered from but quickly turned into farmland. There were many small side paths that led to villages, but Ginko kept to the main road until midday when he stopped for lunch at a road side stand. Nesu wandered off while he ate.

They were back on the road until midafternoon. Ginko then turned down a side path that led into the mountains. By evening they were amongst hills and trees again. They stopped by a stream to make camp and Ginko set about catching some fish while Nesu looked for nuts and berries.

"Just like old times." He smirked when she returned.

"Old times?" She laughed, setting her finds aside while she got the fire started. "We've only known each other a couple of months. How can we have old times?"

"Really?" He started cooking dinner. "Feels like it's been longer than that since we met."

"We say 'time flies when you're having fun' where I come from."

"So you've been enjoying yourself?"

"Things certainly have been interesting." She grinned. "Certainly more interesting than my old life." _In so many ways . . ._

"I'm glad to hear it." _She sounds happy . . ._

After dinner the dishes were washed and put away. Ginko smoked while Nesu picked out another scroll to read. She continued reading when he laid out his bedroll to go to sleep. A few local mushi came and floated around them, as if keeping them company through the night.


	16. Chapter 16: The Lonely House

The next day Ginko woke with the dawn to find Nesu still reading. She repacked the scrolls while breakfast was prepared. After eating, cleaning up, and putting everything back in the case they broke camp and continued on their way. Nesu drifted alongside as Ginko led the way. He hadn't received any letters but seemed to be heading for a definite destination regardless.

They continued for several days, each following a similar pattern: waking at dawn, breakfast, walking until midday, lunch, walking until evening, dinner, sleep for Ginko and reading for Nesu. The forest began to thin on the other side of the mountains. Soon an isolated valley came into view.

"So, is that where we're going?" Nesu asked.

"Yeah. It's about time I paid her a visit."

"Her? Someone lives out here?"

"The house should be visible soon."

After cresting the next rise, a house did indeed come into view. It was large and well-built, but its somber coloration and near-complete isolation prevented it from looking welcoming or comfortable. It seemed to be a house built for a purpose. They approached the door and Ginko knocked.

"Who is it?" The voice of an old woman answered.

"Hey, Tama-san. It's me, Ginko."

"Back again, are you?" The door opened, revealing a very old woman in a traditional kimono. "Tanyu-sama is about to take lunch. I suppose you're hungry as well?"

"I wouldn't say no." Ginko smiled and stepped inside.

Nesu was about to follow when she noticed Tama giving her a strange look. She stopped, realizing the old woman could see her.

"Oh, uh, hello." Nesu smiled awkwardly. "I'm not exactly used to anyone but Ginko being able to see me. I'm Nesu."

"You are a mushi." Tama stated.

"Yeah, been that way for a while now." Nesu glanced at Ginko.

"I met her in the mountains a few days from the sea. She doesn't have anywhere to go, so we've been traveling together. Nesu has actually been quite helpful." He offered.

Tama glanced at Ginko then back to Nesu. It felt like she was being examined, but eventually Tama seemed to be satisfied and Nesu was allowed to enter. They were led to a room where a table was set up. A young woman, dressed in the white kimono and red hakama usually reserved for miko was already seated. Nesu caught a glimpse of a foot that looked dead and black, as if affected by a bad case of frostbite.

"Hello Ginko, excellent timing." The young woman smiled, putting aside her pipe as they entered. "Who is your friend?"

"Tanyu-san, this is Nesu-san." He set down his case and took a seat at the table. "A human-turned mushi."

"Ah, I've heard of such but this is my first time getting to see one." Tanyu smiled at Nesu and gestured for her to sit. "I would love to hear your story."

"Tanyu-san is the Karibusa family scribe; she and her predecessors have collected thousands of stories of mushi." Ginko offered as Nesu sat.

"Really? Could I read some of that while we're here?" Nesu returned Tanyu's smile.

"Might as well, you've read every scroll I have at least twice by now." Ginko smirked.

"Is that why you came to visit?" Tanyu pretended to pout, and then laughed.

Tama, with a disapproving look at Ginko, entered and began to serve lunch. Tanyu, clearly her master, was served first. Ginko was next and Nesu last. Tama apparently had either already eaten or ate by herself in the kitchen as a servant often would. The food was good though simple. Nesu noticed that her portions were slightly smaller than the others but didn't mind: her appetite wasn't quite as robust as a human's anymore.

After they finished eating, Tama returned to clear the dishes and Tanyu relit her pipe. She picked up a blank scroll and set it on the table in front of her. Nesu thought it odd she didn't have any brushes or ink, but didn't say anything as neither Ginko nor Tanyu made any indication that this was unusual.

"Have any daring tales of adventure for me this time?" Tanyu turned to face Ginko.

"I'm not sure how daring you'll find them, but there have been a few interesting things since last time." Ginko smiled.

He began to talk about his encounters with mushi. Some of the stories Nesu had heard before, others were new to her and seemed to have happened right before she met Ginko. When he reached the point at which he met her, he asked Nesu to tell her side of the story. She gave every detail she could remember, except for anything to do with Nui. Ginko took over for the story of the villagers and the blue tea, and then had Nesu give the details for what happened with the child locked in the mansion.

"You certainly have been busy, Ginko." Tanyu sighed as she unrolled the scroll. "At least some of it is useful this time."

Nesu gasped is shock as words began to spread over Tanyu's body, starting from the blackened foot.

"The Karibusa scribes use stories about subduing mushi to seal the abomination mushi, mushi that destroy other forms of life." Ginko spoke quietly as he explained. "Somehow, the stories themselves bind them. The mushi take on the form of the words, are laid down on the scrolls, and become the Karibusa Archive."

"So, these abomination mushi are inside Tanyu-san?" Nesu asked as she stared in fascination.

"Yeah. Each generation someone is born with a black mark indicating the presence of the abomination mushi. That person becomes the scribe to seal them."

"I hope to be able to finish sealing them all before I die." Tanyu panted from exertion as she took a short break between recording stories. "I want to be able to see some of the places I have heard about. Especially the sea."

"It must be lonely, stuck here." Nesu offered in sympathy.

"I am visited by other mushishi in addition to Ginko but yes, it is lonely here with just the two of us most of the time." Tanyu sighed then went back to work.


	17. Chapter 17: The Archive

Once Tanyu had finished recording all of the stories that Ginko and Nesu had told her that were useful for sealing the abomination mushi, she was exhausted. She excused herself to take a nap before dinner, inviting her guests to enter the archive. Tama opened the hidden door and led them inside, confiscating Ginko's cigarettes so he wouldn't be tempted to smoke near the priceless books.

Beneath the house was a system of caves that had been filled with storage sheds. Each shed was filled with scrolls like the one they had watched Tanyu fill earlier. The archive was divided not by type of mushi or nature of the encounters recorded but by the scribe who had done the recording. The oldest parts of the collection were also the most remote, as if the original builders had known that the process of sealing would take generations.

Tama led the way to the very deepest part of the caves, to the very beginning of the archive. Nesu would begin reading here, as so many mushishi had before her. After Tama's admonitions to be careful of the books and not to agitate the mushi, Nesu pulled out the first scroll and began to read. Ginko had read nearly all of the archive so once Nesu was settled in he headed back towards the front where the newest records were.

Nesu quickly became engrossed in the stories. While primarily violent, depicting the subjugation or destruction of mushi by force, they were filled with information on many different kinds of mushi. The records detailed the types, habits, dangers, potential benefits, and methods used to control them including many herbal recipes. She had no idea how much time had passed when Ginko and Tama returned to tell her it was time for dinner.

"I hope the archive isn't too unpleasant for one such as you, Nesu-san." Tanyu smiled as they took their seats and Tama served the food.

"Well, I feel bad that so many mushi had to be killed." Nesu sighed. "But there's still so much to learn!"

"Opinions regarding mushi change with time. You'll get to stories that aren't as bad soon enough." Ginko offered.

"Yes, especially when you get to the stories that Ginko has told me." Tanyu nodded. "He always tries so hard to help humans and mushi coexist."

"Careful, I may blush."

Both Tanyu and Nesu laughed.

Dinner was an enjoyable affair. Tanyu talked about the various different types of mushishi she had encountered during her tenure as scribe. Most reminded Nesu of entomologists and biologists from her own world, some sounded simply like exterminators. A rare few seemed to be like Ginko, who tried to accept mushi just as they were. She seemed particularly fond of a man named Kumado, whose family had been dedicated to studying the abomination mushi for generations.

After dinner Tama cleared away the dishes and brought them a bottle of sake to share. Tanyu, as hostess, made a point of pouring for both Nesu and Ginko. Free of Tama's watchful eyes, Ginko lit up one of his cigarettes. The conversation turned to Nesu and her experiences as a mushi. She answered as best she could, describing how it had felt to be immersed in the koumyoku and how it felt to float and drift with the breeze. She didn't say much about her life before, since she doubted Tanyu would believe her.

When the sake was gone, Tama insisted that Tanyu go to bed. Ginko was yawning after the long day as well and retired to the guest room that Tama had already prepared. Left to her own devices, Nesu decided to return to the archive. She left a note indicated where she was just in case she lost track of time again. Picking up where she left off, she settled in to read through the night.

While the reason the archive had come into existence was tragic, the content often depressing, and Tanyu's suffering difficult to bear, the archive was truly an invaluable resource. Not knowing how long they would be visiting, how often they might return, or when they'd next be there, Nesu had no intention of letting the opportunity go to waste. She did not expect to read the entire archive in a single night, but was determined to read as much as possible while there.


	18. Chapter 18: A Walk and a Talk

The next day another mushishi arrived to speak to Tanyu and access the archives. He was a large blustering man who sneered whenever he spoke of mushi. He was clearly not liked, but Tanyu needed stories to bind the abomination mushi. Rather than joining everyone for breakfast, Nesu stayed out of sight down in the archive. Ginko soon joined her while the other mushishi, Waruika, told his tales to Tanyu,

"That man is horrible." Nesu fumed as she put aside a scroll.

"There are all kinds of mushishi." Ginko shrugged as he took a scroll. He had decided to review some of the older ones to keep her company.

"He sounds like nothing more than a bully." She buried herself in another scroll.

"Well, if we avoid him while he's here and leave in a different direction we should have to deal with him." Ginko offered.

In the afternoon Tama came down to warn them before Waruika entered. Nesu quickly put up the scroll she was reading and slipped away through the walls. Ginko could not escape so easily.

"Ah, so this is where you've been hiding." Waruika chuckled.

"Yeah." Ginko moved towards the stairs. "I'll leave you to it."

"No, stay. I'd like the opinion of the infamous Ginko on some of these old tales."

With no polite way to escape the man's company, Ginko sighed and resumed his seat.

Nesu arrived in the writing room where Tanyu was scribing Waruika's tales. With a nod and a smile, Nesu moved to leave Tanyu to her work.

"Wait, please, I'm almost done here and would like some more pleasant company." Tanyu sighed as she lay down another line of text.

"So you don't like that guy either." Nesu plopped down next to Tanyu.

"In all the stories he tells, he goes out of his way to kill the mushi and make a profit off the villagers he's supposed to be helping. If I didn't need so many stories, I would ban him from this house and the archive."

"Well, maybe he'll get on the bad side of a nushi in the form of a predator and you won't have to deal with him anymore." Nesu laughed.

"That's not a nice thought." Tanyu admonished, but she smiled a bit.

When she was finished Tanyu elected not to take her usual nap. Tired as she was, she did not want to be easily found if Waruika came up from the archive early. Instead, she grabbed her cane and invited Nesu to join her for a walk. She managed remarkably well for only having the proper use of one leg, which Nesu attributed to her lifetime of practice. They reached the banks of a small stream where Tanyu settled herself on a large boulder with a sigh. Nesu sat on the ground below, watching the mushi in the grasses.

"What?" Nesu asked as Tanyu chuckled.

"That is exactly where Ginko sat the first time I met him. He told me a very funny story about a mole-eating mushi."

"It had a happy ending, then?" Nesu smiled.

"Yes." Tanyu looked thoughtful for a moment. "Something has been bothering me."

"If it's Waruika-san, I could do something unpleasant to him and we could just tell people it was a nushi he upset . . . "

"No," Tanyu chuckled, "something about you."

"Oh?" Nesu tensed.

"The story you told about being in the koumyoku. It felt like something was missing."

"Ah." Nesu sighed but didn't really relax. "Very perceptive of you."

"Will you tell me what you left out before, or is there a reason you can't?"

"Ginko isn't supposed to know, so I couldn't tell him or say it while he was there." Nesu answered somewhat evasively. "I don't know if I should tell anyone else."

"Why can't he know? You two seem very close."

"I can't answer that without explaining." Nesu sighed. "Fine. He isn't supposed to know because I was asked not to tell him. I wasn't alone in the koumyoku."

"Of course you weren't alone; there must have been tens of thousands of mushi around you at any given time."

"Yeah, but ordinary mushi couldn't have spoken to me could they?" Nesu shook her head. "When I say I wasn't alone, I mean there was a person there in the flow with me."

"A mushishi or perhaps someone else like you?"

"Neither." Nesu sighed again. "This person was a mushi who used to be human, they were even a mushishi back then, but not like me. She had become a giant, blind, luminescent, silver catfish."

"Remarkable." Tanyu tried to remember if she had heard of anything like that happening before, but couldn't. "She? So this person was a woman?"

"Yes." Nesu nodded. "Remember when I said before that I drifted for a while before coming to my senses and swimming?"

Tanyu nodded.

"I wasn't just drifting, I was sinking. I thought I might be dead or dying and rather than try to live, I was content to lose myself in the river. To just let everything about myself dissolve into the light. The only reason I didn't is because she wouldn't let me. She swam up from the depths and caught me on her back. As she carried me to the surface she spoke to me. I have no idea how much time passed as she tried to convince me to live, even if I could never be human again. She told me about her own life and how she became what she was. How she regretted turning her back on the world and a child who needed someone. When I had finally decided to give existence another chance, if only to get her to stop nagging, she told not to speak of her to a particular man. When I asked why, she said it might be painful for him to know. The man she described has to be Ginko-san. I think he must have been the child in her story. She said her name was Nui."

Tanyu had sat silently while Nesu spoke, absorbing the strange story. She looked towards the house where Ginko was currently stuck in the archive with Waruika. Then she shook her head and sighed.

"You know he doesn't remember anything of his past, not before he was found when he was about ten years old. He has never mentioned her, so if this Nui-san knew him it must have been from before he lost his memory." Tanyu sighed again. "If you told him he would probably try to find out what happened, if only to discover what mushi could affect a human's appearance in such a way. Nui-san must know, and must think it is for the best that he does not."

"I figured as much." Nesu leaned back in the grass. "I kind of wish she'd tell me, but no such luck."

"You have spoken to her since?"

"Yeah. She shows up for a chat whenever I go to the koumyoku alone. It's not very often, I don't want to raise Ginko-san's suspicions, but I think she misses having someone to talk to."

"It must be lonely for her." Tanyu sighed, and then looked at Nesu oddly. "Is the life of a mushi lonely for you as well?"

"Hm? No, not really. I've had Ginko-san ever since I left the koumyoku. I've even met his friend Adashino-sensei." Nesu chuckled. "He's a bit over the top but a nice enough guy. Completely obsessed with mushi even though he can't see them."

"But there aren't many who can see you or talk to you, since you aren't human. Don't you miss the life you left behind?"

"Actually, I was much lonelier as a human." Nesu sighed as she sat up. "I never really fit in with the people or the world around me. I struggled to find enough work to just get by and always felt like a burden to my family. Never had many friends either, and felt like a burden to them too. Not a day went by, despite how well things may have gone that particular day, that I didn't find myself wishing for some way out. But as far as I knew the only way out was death. I didn't really care whether I lived or died, not with the life I was living, but I just couldn't bring myself to end it. I just kept wishing that things would change: either that I'd find a way to be comfortable with the world or that everything would end." She smiled, but it was melancholy. "I got exactly what I wished for when the darkness took me and I fell in the koumyoku."

When she had finished, Tanyu suddenly slid off the boulder to her side. Before Nesu could react, Tanyu had grabbed her and pulled her into a hug so tight a human would not have been able to breathe. Nesu could feel tears soaking into the shoulder of her kimono. Flustered, she tried to get Tanyu to calm down.

"I'm sorry." Tanyu pulled back enough to look Nesu in the eyes.

"No problem. I didn't mean to upset you." Nesu smiled again. "Not after you had to deal with that jerk this morning."

"No, I'm sorry that you ever had to feel that way." Tanyu shook her head. "No one should have to be that unhappy, that they would wish for death, simply because they are different from those around them." She smiled through continued tears. "I am glad that you are here now, that you met Nui-san, that Ginko-san is your friend, that Adashino-sensei amuses you, and that I got to meet you. Please, don't ever have such horrible thoughts again."

"I can't promise that I won't," Nesu gave another melancholy smile, "but so far life as a mushi has been good. Especially since I can still eat delicious food and drink sake."

Tanyu laughed at that and wiped her tears.

"Speaking of which, it must be getting close to dinner time." Nesu stood and helped Tanyu up from the ground, fetching the cane for her as well. "We should head back so that you can get something to eat."

"Yes, you are right." Tanyu sighed. She was not looking forward to Waruika's continued presence.

Tama was still preparing dinner when they returned and hadn't called Ginko and Waruika up from the archive yet. She had thoughtfully already prepared a setting for Nesu. Nesu ate in the kitchen while Tama served the others, before slipping back down into the archive to continue her readings. Waruika would be staying the night, but luckily he would be leaving first thing in the morning. Ginko and Tanyu would only have to suffer his company for a few more hours, most of which could be spent sleeping.


	19. Chapter 19: Opinions

Nesu had made rapid progress through the archive over the two days and nights they had been Tanyu's guest. When Tama came to call her for breakfast, Waruika had left at dawn, she was surprised at how far she had come. Ginko had decided that they would stay another day before leaving to be sure of not meeting Waruika on the road. Tanyu seemed far more chipper now that the unpleasant man was gone and she had had time to rest properly. Ginko, on the other hand, looked rather tired.

"You know," he said after Tama had left them, "I don't really appreciate you all abandoning me yesterday."

"Would you have wanted to explain my presence to that man?" Nesu raised an eyebrow. "I doubt that it would have gone at all well."

"True and I don't really blame you." He said apologetically to Nesu before turning to Tanyu. "But you could have invited me along when you decided to run off."

"No, I don't think I could have." She darted a quick glance at Nesu that Ginko only missed because he had raised his bowl to drink the last of his miso. "I don't get to talk to many women near my own age, and we couldn't have talked as freely with a man there."

Ginko almost choked on a piece of tofu while Tanyu laughed lightly and Nesu chuckled.

"Yeah, that conversation wasn't fit for mixed company." Nesu added as he cleared his throat.

After breakfast Ginko decided to go for a walk. He kept blushing when he glanced at Tanyu and Nesu, which caused them to giggle. Deciding that she could use a break from the archive, Nesu sat out on the porch. Tanyu soon joined her and Tama brought them a pot of tea.

"We've given him the complete wrong idea about what we talked about, you know." Nesu said after a time.

"I thought that would be better than lying outright."

"There is that." Nesu chuckled a little sadly.

"Now, no more of that." Tanyu poked her playfully. "We had enough melancholy yesterday."

"Fine." Nesu laughed.

"Since he already thinks we're talking about him, what do you think of Ginko-san?"

"Um, well," Nesu looked around while she tried to figure out the best way to answer. "He's a great guy. Smart, funny, charming, good-looking, and far more patient with people than I've ever been. I've noticed girls eyeing him in villages and when we're on the road, but he either doesn't notice or isn't interested because he doesn't take advantage."

"Sounds like you really like him."

"Well, don't you?"

"Of course." Tanyu smiled, in a knowing way that caused Nesu to raise an eyebrow.

They continued to chat pleasantly until Ginko returned around lunchtime. He darted glances at them over the course of lunch, clearly having assumed that they were talking about him while he was out, which caused Tanyu to giggle and Nesu to roll her eyes. After lunch Nesu headed back down to the archive. Tanyu sat at her desk to go over some correspondence and didn't notice Ginko linger.

"I'm afraid to ask what you two have been talking about." She jumped as he spoke and took a seat next to her.

"Ginko-san!" Tanyu sighed. "I thought you had gone down to the archive with Nesu-san."

"I'll likely head down later." He lit one of his cigarettes and took a drag. "So, what do you think of Nesu-san?"

"Oh, she's very nice." Tanyu smiled. "Such a strong person, to have adapted so quickly to her new life."

"You two seem to be getting along rather well."

"Yes, I'm glad you brought her here to meet me."

Ginko took a long drag from his cigarette.

"What do you think of her? She has been your traveling companion for a while now."

"Hm?" He looked up. "What do I think of her? Well, the means of her transformation seems to be unique. Studying her condition and the development of her abilities has been fascinating."

"She's not just a specimen to be studied." Tanyu shook her head. "What do you think of her as a person? You must like her, at least a bit, or you would have tried to get her to go off on her own."

"Nesu-san has been very helpful in resolving mushi-related incidents. She's clever, resourceful, ruthless when necessary, and kinder than she thinks she is." He scratched his head. "She would have made a fine mushishi if she hadn't become a mushi herself."

"You like having her company and conversation as well, yes?"

"It took getting used to at first, since I was used to solitude, but yeah." He narrowed his eyes. "Why are you so interested? Just what have you two been talking about?"

"Oh, nothing much." Tanyu laughed and wore another knowing smile.

Ginko, after finishing his cigarette, headed down to the archive for the rest of the afternoon. Joining Nesu, they read in companionable silence until Tama announced dinner. Tanyu kept smiling at the two of them and chuckling to herself, earning her raised eyebrows and rolled eyes. Ginko headed to bed relatively early to rest up properly before the morning. Nesu headed back to the archive.

"What has you so amused, Tanyu-sama?" Tama inquired as she helped her master get ready for bed.

"I'm just happy to have made a new friend." She smiled.

"Nesu-san's presence was surprisingly non-disruptive to the mushi in the archive." The old woman admitted, but her expression indicated she thought there was still more.

"I'm also happy that Ginko-san has made a new friend." She chuckled.

"I see." Tama tutted as she left for her own room.


	20. Chapter 20: A Village Overrun

By the time Nesu was called to breakfast on the morning of departure, she had read nearly two-thirds of the archive. Tanyu seemed surprised but Ginko just chuckled, being well aware of Nesu's reading habits. While they ate and talked Tama thoughtfully set aside some supplies to be added to Ginko's case. After breakfast Ginko repacked everything in order to include the additions. Once they said good bye, during which Tanyu extracted a promise for them to come visit her again as soon as they could, they headed out.

Ginko led the way, off in a direction not only different from whence they had come but different from the one Waruika had been seen to take. There wasn't really an established road, but he had little trouble finding a path. Nesu had even less. Their travels mostly adhered to established routine, the primary difference being that Nesu, having exhausted Ginko's supply of scrolls for reading material and having learned much from the archive, began to experiment with concocting the various herbal compounds utilized by mushishi.

"Hm . . . " Ginko carefully examined one of her attempts a few days after setting out, "were you some sort of herbalist in your old life? This is well-made."

"I had a rather eclectic background, but only really used herbs in cooking." Nesu smiled as she replied, pleased with his praise.

"Your proportions of ingredients are almost perfect and your technique isn't bad." He smirked. "A bit more practice and you could put me out of work."

"The whole 'invisible to normal people' thing might be a problem there." Nesu laughed.

They traveled for several more days. Ginko continued to evaluate her attempts and was impressed when she began to experiment with new formulas. Eventually they came to a road that led to a mountain village. There was an unusual amount of mushi in the area, particularly in the direction of the village itself.

"Huh." Ginko stood watching the mushi. "The koumyoku isn't near the surface here; there shouldn't be so many mushi."

"Do you know where we are? Maybe there's been a report of strange occurrences here." Nesu followed his gaze.

"No, I haven't heard of anything odd happening in this area." He shook his head.

"Guess we're checking it out then."

"Might as well." Ginko hitched his case back up onto his shoulder and led the way with Nesu floating alongside.

The amount of mushi increased the closer they got to the village. By the time they reached the village itself, Ginko had to be pulling on his cigarette almost constantly just to keep the air around him sufficient clear to breathe without inhaling mushi. Nesu resorted to walking in an attempt to stay clear of the clouds of lesser mushi. They made their way to the local restaurant/tavern/inn in the hopes of finding someone to talk to.

As Ginko found a seat that was close to a group of villagers, Nesu observed that all the people seemed to have clouds of mushi swarming about their heads. Most of them also seemed to be ill: pale, sweaty, and coughing. It was as if the mushi were draining vitality from the villagers. Nesu relayed her observations the Ginko after he had ordered tea and something to eat. He nodded in agreement, and then motioned to indicate they should listen to the villagers' conversation. Nesu drifted over to hear them better.

"Things haven't been the same since that lot started mining the mountainside." An older man shook his head.

"Ah, what do you know?" A young man scoffed. "The mine makes more money than the fields ever did."

"And what good is that?" A middle-aged man sighed. "We haven't seen any of that money here and the harvest has been poor since the mine opened. At least the fields kept us alive even if they didn't make us rich. And with all the sick people it's like the mountain gods have turned against us."

"Do the worst of the illnesses also date from the opening of the mine?" Ginko leaned over to join the conversation.

"That they do." The old man looked him over. "You a doctor, young man?"

"No, I'm a mushishi. I think I might be able to help. My name is Ginko." He moved his things to the other table as the villagers made room for him to join them. "I noticed the mushi from the road and came to investigate."

"Do you think the mine might be the cause of our problems?" The middle-aged man asked.

"Mushi do not normally bother people, but if their environment has been disrupted they will do what it takes to survive." Ginko took a drag from his cigarette. "The mining operations could have caused enough damage to drive the mushi into the village to survive. I'll need to take a look to be sure but yes; I think the mine could be the problem."

"Will the mine have to be closed?" The young man asked.

"I won't know that until I see what they're doing there." Ginko shrugged as both the old man and the middle-aged man chastised the young one for his foolish attachment to the idea of the mine.

Evening was coming on when Ginko had finished his tea, so it was a bit late to go to investigate the mine immediately. While asking the inn keeper about the cost of lodgings, the old man invited him to stay at his house. Ginko gladly accepted in order to conserve funds and Nesu followed as the old man led them to his house. It was not large, just a couple of rooms, but he and his wife didn't need more and it was well-maintained.

"You can call the old woman there Ba-san and me Ji-san." The old man said as they entered.

"Bringing home strays?" Ba-san looked over as they came in from where she was cooking dinner.

"This young man is Ginko-san." Ji-san sat down across the fire from her. "He's going to try to help the sick people in the village."

"Pleased to meet you." Ginko sat on the side of the fire closest to the door and set aside his case as Nesu found a spot in the corner. "I don't suppose you've made enough for four people?"

"Hungry are you?" Ba-san chuckled.

"Actually, I didn't come here alone." Ginko started to explain as Nesu looked at him in surprise. "You can't see her, but my companion is no less real. Her name is Nesu-san." He rummaged in his case and extracted his writing materials and laid them out, holding the brush out to Nesu as the old couple looked at him like he was insane.

"You sure about this?" Nesu asked, looking dubiously at the brush.

"Yes, now write something so I don't look like a complete fool."

Nesu sighed and took the brush. Ba-san gasped as the brush seemed to move on its own, Ji-san just stared while she wrote the following message:

**Greetings. My name is Nesu.**

"This some kind of trick?" Ji-san looked between the paper, the still-suspended brush, and Ginko. "Why can't we see her?"

"She beat me to it." Ginko pointed at the paper where another message had been written.

**Because normal people do not have the ability to see mushi.**

"Nesu-san is a human who has been turned into a mushi. We've been traveling and working together for a while now." Ginko added.

"So she's like a ghost?" Ba-san had pulled herself together. "The poor dear."

**It is not so bad, but thank you for your concern.**

"You're quite welcome."

Dinner was a simple affair, but there was enough to go around. Despite the current hardships, Ba-san had managed to keep a small vegetable garden going. After dinner the old couple retired to their room. Since he didn't know how far away the mine was or how long investigating it would take, Ginko wanted to get an early start in the morning. Nesu watched the mushi swarming through the air while she mused.

_Why go out of his way to tell them about me? He hasn't before, since most people wouldn't believe it. What has changed?_


End file.
